THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER.
By FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.
Oh! say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of the fight,[1]
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare—the bombs bursting in air—
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half[2] conceals, half[2] discloses;
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on[3] the stream.
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner—oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is the foe that[4] so vauntingly swore
That[5] the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should[6] leave us no more?
This[7] blood has washed out his[8] foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh, thus be it ever! when freemen[9] shall stand
Between their[10] loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with victory and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our trust."
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
For Mr. Jas. Maher, of Washington City, from F.S. Key. Washington, June 7, 1842.
[1] "Perilous fight."—Griswold—Dana. Common version.
[2] "Now."—Dana.
[3] "O'er."—Several versions.
[4] "Band who."—Griswold—Dana.
[5] "Mid."—Griswold—Dana.
[6] "They'd."—Griswold.
[7] "Their."—Griswold—Dana. Common version.
[8] "Their."—Griswold—Dana. Common version.
[9] "Freeman."—Griswold.
[10] "Our."—Griswold—Dana. Common version.
FROM THE COUNTRY PRESS.
Samples of the Journalistic Fodder Which Is Handed Out for Daily Consumption
Among the Children of Nature Who Inhabit Some of the
Quiet Places in the Tall Timbers.